


Building Foundations

by AgrajagBeta, Hamishmash



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Future Fic, Grief/Mourning, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-03-22 13:00:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3729850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgrajagBeta/pseuds/AgrajagBeta, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamishmash/pseuds/Hamishmash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gang are getting older. Things are changing. What will they do when the co-dependant structure they've spent years building begins to crumble?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Crack

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hamishmash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamishmash/gifts), [jadinacookie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadinacookie/gifts).



> Just like 'How The Gang Became The Gang', I've credited Hamishmash because this whole story is pretty much an amalgamation of many hours of conversing on Facebook.
> 
> This is very much set in the same universe as 'How The Gang Became The Gang', with that fic focussing on before the show, whereas this one is focussing on after.
> 
> Also please bear in mind that I will be adding more tags as I go.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy.

1:00 PM

On a Monday

2018

Philadelphia, PA

 

“Why did I let you drag me here? I don’t want to be here. This is grossing me out.”

“He’s your father, Dee. Why wouldn’t you want to be here?”

“Mac, I couldn’t give a shit about that asshole, even if he’s about to knock on the pearly gates.

“This is serious, Dee!” Mac’s shouted whispering reverberated down the sterile hallway of the hospital. “They don’t think he’s got much time left.”

“What happened, anyway?”

“I dunno. I went to their apartment to find Charlie and when I got there, Frank was just lying face down in the middle of the room.”

“So? He does that all the time.”

“Yeah, I know. But he wouldn’t answer me and when I checked on him, his muscles were all tight and shit.”

“Gross.”

“So I dragged him out of the apartment building then called for an ambulance. I don’t know what they keep in that apartment so I couldn’t take the risk. “

A couple of nurses walked by Mac and Dee, causing them to go silent, not wanting the nurses to hear their highly secretive conversation that they’d been semi-shouting for the last few minutes. Mac was leaning on the cold white wall and Dee was standing next to him with her arms crossed. Once the nurses were out of earshot, Mac continued: “My phone died and you were the closest.”

“Yeah, well, I phoned the bar and they were both there and they said they were on their way. What’s taking them so long? I just wanna get Frank checked out and go to the bar.”

Mac’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at the shoe-marked floor.

“I don’t know if we’ll be checking him out.”

Both of them were silent from that point forward as they waited for Dennis and Charlie.

-o-

Charlie was sitting in the front passenger seat of Dennis’ car, which was a new experience for the both of them. Charlie’s fidgety fingers that tapped on his knees and on the dashboard were slowly grinding on Dennis’ calm composure.

“I mean, what’s the worst that could have happened?” Charlie’s scratchy voice was full of doubt. “He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. I mean, shit; the amount of alcohol that guy’s consumed and the amount of blood he’s lost over the years has got to mean something.” Charlie raised a fist. “He’s super-human!”

Dennis’ automatic nodding reassured Charlie. “What did Dee say, again?”

Dennis’ shrugged as he tried to remember his sister’s crazed squawking.

“I don’t know. Something about Mac finding him passed out in the middle of the room.”

“But he does that all the time, dude.”

“Yeah, and Mac put him outside or something.”

“In the trash?”

”Possibly.”

Charlie banged his fist on the dashboard.

“God damn it! Frank asked _me_ to do that when he died!” Charlie began to shout. Dennis gave a surprised glance towards Charlie before returning his attention to the road.

“He’s not dead, Charlie!” Dennis matched Charlie’s volume.

“Then why did Mac put him in the trash?!” Charlie said even louder.

“I don’t know! So the EMTs didn’t see your gross apartment? You just said he’d be fine and that he’s super-human!”

“Super-humans can die too, man!”

Dennis had had enough of their shouting match.

“Charlie! Stop. Frank’s not dead. The effects of living in that disgusting apartment have probably caught up with him. We’ll go and get his meds or whatever he needs and get him out. Okay?”

Charlie breathed deeply and nodded.

They drove in silence for a few moments before Charlie looked back timidly at Dennis.

“Macho Man Randy Savage was super-human and he died—“

“Charlie, I swear to God!” Dennis screamed.

-o-

Mac didn’t think he could have predicted the others’ reaction when Frank passed away. Dennis and Charlie had arrived and they’d been flitting up and down various corridors, trying to find the correct ward. They saw Mac and Dee and immediately rushed over and began to argue. ‘ _About what?’_ Mac thought afterwards. He couldn’t remember. They had been too caught up in their squabbling that their ears – even though Mac’s hearing was _perfect, dude –_ didn’t pick up one the singular tone of the ECG machine in Frank’s room, signaling a non-beating heart.

People in blue pushed by the four of them, seemingly in a blur as what was happening slowly dawned on each of them.

Curtains were drawn around the bed as the team attempted to resuscitate Frank.

Mac could already feel the reaction coming from Charlie. The little man’s breathing got heavier; his head began to shake in denial.

“No. No. No.” he began to mutter under his breath. His hands shot to the sides of his head, almost trying to keep the idea of Frank leaving him out.

Mac’s reaction was automatic: His arms flew around Charlie and brought him close. Charlie was trying weakly to resist, but Mac held on tight and brought his lips near Charlie’s ear to whisper reassurances. ‘ _Everything’s gonna be fine.’ ‘Shh, shh, shh.’ ‘It’s okay.’ ’I’m here.’ ‘I’ll always be here.’_ Like all those years ago in Charlie’s bed.

Charlie didn’t calm down but he didn’t become any more manic either.

Mac looked over at the Reynolds twins to gauge their reaction.

Nothing from Dennis; he was as cool as a cucumber. His steely gaze was locked onto the curtains through the window in the door. His face was unreadable.

Dee was pretty much the same although with a few differences: Her eyes were a little wider, her jaw muscles were tensing and relaxing, and on her right hand, the thumb was picking at the nails of the fingers on the same hand.

For what felt like the longest time to Mac, nothing really happened. Mac held on to a hyperventilating and sobbing Charlie (who had nestled his head in the crook of Mac’s neck) whilst watching the other two.

The commotion inside the room had silenced and the four of them deep down knew what the outcome was.

One of the women in blue made her way towards the door, opening it and coming through, presenting the gang with sad eyes and pursed lips. She stood for a moment, considering the best way to break the news before Dennis spoke up.

“You don’t…” His voice was gentle. “You don’t have to say it.” The lady nodded. The short silence was punctuated by a muffled cry from Charlie into Mac’s shoulder.

“Are any of you family?” The lady asked.

“We’re his kids.” Dennis pointed to himself and his sister.

“If you’d like to go in and… See him, you can.”

“No.” Dee gasped out. She brought a fist up to her mouth, trying to stop herself speaking.

Or throwing up.

Dennis nodded but looked back at Charlie.

“He’s Frank’s son, too.”

Mac slid a hand between himself and Charlie’s face, gently lifting the man’s wet face to look at him.

“Do you want to go in, Charlie?”

Charlie’s face was scrunched up and red as the information was still hitting him.

“I don’t-“ He said before sobbing. “I don’t know.”

“You need to tell me, Charlie. I think they’re gonna take him away soon.”

Hearing the words “take him away” made Charlie sob. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment before nodding.

Charlie took hold of Mac’s hand and began to walk through the door, dragging Mac with him.

“Sir, only family can—“ began the woman before receiving a glance from Dennis. Whatever emotions the glance contained, they shut the lady up.

Dennis looked back at the door and walked through, leaving the woman with Dee who eventually gave up and rushed in with the others out of awkwardness.

-o-

When Dee finally approached, she stood with Dennis at the foot of the bed. She looked at Frank for a moment before closing her eyes. He lay there almost as if he was sleeping. Charlie stood by his side with his hand on his possible-father’s arm. He was still crying but it was a lot quieter now - Charlie’s acceptance slowly appearing.

Mac thought about how quickly things had changed. A few days earlier they had been celebrating Dennis’ birthday in the usual way – closing the bar and getting incredibly drunk and generally having a good time. And now… They were sitting by Frank’s deathbed. He thought about how at least their last days with Frank weren’t too bad. ‘ _It’s probably how the bastard wanted to go. Get shit-faced for a couple days then die in his sleep. He would’ve wanted to say good bye to Charlie, though.’_

Mac was brought away from his thoughts when another lady in blue told them it was time to go. Mac wasn’t sure how long the four of them had been there, but it must have been a while since Charlie was no longer crying and Dennis and Dee had pulled up chairs and sat on the other side.

Charlie patted Frank’s arm one final time before turning away. Charlie’s gaze was distant, not really focussing on anything as he began to slowly walk away from the bed, although not before grabbing Mac’s hand.

Dee shot up and quickly walked towards to the door and went through. Dennis got up, gave one final nod towards Frank and joined Mac and Charlie walking out.

-o-

Back in the hallway, the four weren’t too sure what to do with themselves. They had lined up with their backs against the cold white wall. Charlie’s head fell to the side, leaning on Mac’s shoulder as they still held hands. Dennis was on the other side of Mac, shoulder to shoulder with their heads resting against each other’s. Dee rested her head on Dennis’ shoulder on his other side, mirroring Charlie.

Mac knew things were changing for the gang. They were getting older and they couldn’t live forever; a point which Frank’s demise had hit home stronger than ever. He also knew there would be a lot to do because of Frank’s passing, but right at that moment, he didn’t want to think about it. All he wanted to think about was the smell of Dennis’ aftershave and the feeling of Charlie’s skin under the pad of his thumb. The grief would hit him soon enough, but for now, he wanted to stay in his little co-dependant bubble for just that little bit longer.


	2. Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the insanely long wait! Will be updating a lot more regularly!  
> Hope you guys enjoy!

1:00 PM

On a Tuesday

2018

Philadelphia, PA

 

Charlie’s thumb grazed the engraved pattern on the urn in his hands. The urn itself was very generic; the cheapest one they could get. As he turned it in his hands, he could feel Frank’s ashes move around inside.

-o-

Frank was cremated the day before. Charlie thought the ceremony was pretty nice. There weren’t many people there, just himself, Mac, Dennis, and Dee at the front with Mrs. Kelly and Artemis. A couple others were scattered around the other seats but Charlie didn’t recognize them.

Artemis had been the first to speak, pulling up her black veil and immediately talking about her sexual foodie liaisons with Frank and how she wished she’d been with him in his final moments.

“I should’ve gone with you!” she screamed as she held back the tears, falling down and crawling towards Frank’s casket. “It should have been me!” Her hands touched the casket as her tears fell. The gang rolled their eyes but Mrs. Kelly wiped away fresh tears as she nodded in agreement.

Artemis eventually recovered and bowed before going back to her seat and applying another coat of lipstick as if the last five minutes of her screaming and crying never took place.

Mrs. Kelly stood up and slowly made her way to the wooden podium and faced the others. She made gestures towards the casket and herself, her mouth moving but no sound coming out. This lasted for a few minutes before eventually Charlie got up and helped –or dragged – her back to her seat.

So finally it was Dennis’ turn. He stood up, patted down his pristine black suit, and walked to the podium. To Charlie, his words felt clean and sanitized; like it was the bare minimum that could be said about someone who raised you. Charlie’s mind flashed back to the video of Dennis and Dee opening empty Christmas presents and Charlie just nodded to himself.

Dennis was looking ahead; the words that had been effortlessly coming out of his mouth had slowed to a stop. He looked at the podium and back to everyone. He began to speak again but his whole tone was different: Unsure.

“But more recently… He, uh… He came back into my life and the lives of my friends. But most of you will already know that.” Charlie saw a look on Dennis’ face that he’d never seen before, and at the same moment he felt Mac squirm next to him. Dennis continued: “It was weird. Oh, boy, was it weird. And gross. And insane. And awful and fun and crazy and horrible and amazing and gross did I mention that- did I--” Dennis sobbed. Charlie had never seen Dennis react like this. He quickly began to wipe his eyes. “I have no idea why… why I’m… This is--” Dennis began to cry. Shifting Charlie’s chair a little in the process, Mac shot up and ran to Dennis and pulled at him and held him close. Dennis cried in his arms, accepting Mac’s consolation, which was incredibly surreal to Charlie. He looked over at Dee and saw her covering her mouth with her hand as her own eyes watered watching Dennis break down.

Charlie was taken aback. The last few days since Frank had actually died, he’d had random bouts of crying and had probably got it all out of his system. Now he just felt numb.

Mac and Dennis came and sat back down together. Dennis’ hair was a mess and his mascara had run a little. He was sniffling and seemed to lean into Mac a little more than before.

It was Charlie’s turn now. He went to stand up but he didn’t move. He couldn’t. This felt like a final good bye and even though he’d thought he’d got it all out of his system, he still wasn’t ready.

He felt fingers intertwine with his own and he turned to see Mac smiling sadly at him as he gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Charlie felt his legs unfreeze as he began to stand up. Mac: Forever his champion; forever his Dayman.

The walk to the podium felt like hours, or at least he wished it did. Before he knew it he was there and everyone was watching him. Charlie hadn’t prepared anything. It had never crossed his mind. He thought he’d just come up with some great speech about Frank’s life and everyone would be moved and that would be that. But here he was and his was mind blank. Charlie looked around and saw the expressions on people’s faces. He felt a mutual connection to all of these people; all mourning the death of Frank. He realised he didn’t have to say any big speeches or anything like that. They all knew how he felt. They felt the same. He’d finally found his words:

“I miss him.”

He stood back from the podium and took a breath before walking back to his seat. He didn’t look at anyone on the way before he finally plopped down and immediately reached for Mac’s hand that was already waiting to take his.

There were a few more things said by a couple of the others there but it was all filtered out in Charlie’s head and soon enough the casket was moving into the cremation chamber. Charlie’s grip on Mac’s hand must have hurt but Mac didn’t show it, he just rubbed his thumb on the skin of Charlie’s hand to try and calm him. Dennis was holding Dee’s hand, something that Charlie was sure they’d never done in their life. The casket disappeared as the curtains closed. Charlie closed his eyes too.

 -o-

 Charlie was in his apartment leaning against the window frame, still holding Frank’s urn. He’d spent the last day trying to decide on what to do with the ashes. He didn’t know if or where he should scatter them and he thought keeping them would be a little too weird. He lifted the urn and pressed it against his face. The varnish was cold against his skin. He just didn’t know what to do with it, but something in his mind clicked and then it was obvious.

“Oh.” he said before turning and throwing the urn out of the window and into the dumpster below.


End file.
